Effective communication strategy in project management : case study on a medium sized EU co-funded project

Abstract

Construction projects are increasingly getting more complex requiring a larger number of participants who have a different specialisation and operational language. These require a high degree of coordination and excellent communication practices. In EU co-funded projects this is much more pronounced as the amount of bureaucracy is much larger than projects financed by the private sector. In this case study, a qualitative analysis of an on-going EU co-financed project was performed to analyse the communication related issues experienced in the project management. The study represents a project at University of Malta and the interviewee represented the main stakeholders forming the project team, including representatives from; Department of Contracts, University of Malta, Planning Priority Coordination Department, Project Leader, Consultant and a Contractor. The majority of the difficulties seemed to have been attributed to excessive bureaucracy and unclear role and responsibilities, which effected the decision taking mechanisms. With respect to budget overruns these were associated with unclear clients requirements and lack of planning at procurement stage. Improvements in the communication system were proposed including; the use of web base project management platforms, proposal of support services to WPMs and modifications in the contracts. If well implemented, WPMs were considered to facilitate in the communication between the project team, reduce bureaucracy for approval of documentation, simplify the transfer of documentation and, storage and access of information. These observations and recommendations derived from this case study together with would help the project team in implementing WPMs in EU co-funded projects.